everydayExcel Times

Use Microsoft® Excel Differently to Gain a Productive Edge

Issue - Oct 2011

Office 365 - Increasing The Capability of SME

I know that being able to access my emails is very important to me. But I don't it is that
important until I dropped my laptop just last month and could not start up after that. It was
painful to see my 2 months old laptop dropped on the floor. I picked up my laptop and start
accessing the status of the damage. The physical condition looks good, neither were there
scratches nor cracked screen. But when I turn the power on, it refused to load Windows. I
tried to turn on and off many times hoping that I could see that all familiar Window 7 desktop
appearing on my screen. It didn't work. Anxiety rushes through me as I remembered that there
are a few important emails that I need to clear but I cannot remember who they are from. I am
wholly dependent on outlook to track them by marking them unread in the mailbox. Without my
laptop, I felt so helpless. Everything seems to freeze in time. I tried to call Lenovo for help
but it would take time for them to respond. This is not the first time my laptop refused to work.
The last time was just 3 months ago when my hard disk from my old laptop of 3 years crashed.

Two times in less than a year is too much for me. I decided to switch over to the new service
from Microsoft, called Office 365. Unlike my existing emails where it is removed from the
server once I downloaded them from the server, the emails stays in Office365 server. Should
something happen again, I know that I can just grab my phone and I would still be communicating
with my clients the very next seconds. There is no down time and I can access my emails anywhere.

With Office365, it also means that I do not have to carry my laptop around for short meetings.
All I need to do is to carry my iphone which is always with me and I could access the emails
anytime. It works for iPad and other mobile phones. No longer do I have to turn on my laptop,
pluck in the mobile broadband to access that email to retrieve some information I require seconds
before the meeting.

If I don't like the view from my iphone, I could access my emails with my iPad using the internet
browser. It gives me the same view as my Microsoft Outlook in my laptop. I do not have to learn
another new email program to increase my productivity.

When I am overseas, I can just leave my laptop alone because it comes with a web-based MS office
which allows me to work on that spreadsheet or word document. All my iPad need is an internet
connection either from the hotel or sign up for Singtel Data roaming plan and you can access your
emails while you are one the move. It is a perfect solution for me and I don't have to worry about
data loss and business down time any more. The solution will definitely arm SMEs with the advantage
the big boys have been enjoying so far.

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